Upstate New York man gets jail time for beating cat to death

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. (AP) — A 35-year-old man who claimed he was putting an injured cat out of its misery has been sentenced to jail for stomping on the animal and smashing it against a utility pole in front of its owner.

The Schenectady County District Attorney's Office says Donald Birch Jr. was sentenced in county court on Tuesday to a year-and-a-half in jail. He was convicted of felony animal cruelty in June for killing his neighbor's cat after it was hit by a car.